Slicing machine



March 311, 1936. c, T. WALTER SLICING MACHINE Filed April 2, 1932 3Sheets-Sheet l Cfkai'ies f /dlzer INVENTOR WITNES ATTORNEY March 31,1936.. c. T. WALTER SLICING MACHINE zmwm Filed April 2, 1932 3Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 5% ATTORNEY March 31, 31936. WALTER v 2,036,,UW1

SLFGING MACHINE Filed April 2; 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 gwzw. K

ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 31, 1936 UNiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE SLICINGMACHINE Illinois Application April 2, 1932, Serial No. 602,708

13 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in slicing machines.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a knife of specialconfiguration adapted to engage'the upper side of a meat-slab so as tosever a slice and so that during the last portion of the severing orslicing operation, the knife engages the lower side of the slab so as toimpart, as between the knife and the lower side of the slab, a movementof the cutting section of the knife downwardly or in the direction ofthe support'and so as to also impart to the said cutting section of theknife a transverse movement and consequential drawing cutting actionalong the lower side of the slab with the result that the final severingof a slice is obtained by the combination of a downward chopping actionand a transverse drawing action for, along, and in respect to the fullwidth of the lower side of the slab.

According to another aspect of the invention, a special transverselymovable knife is employed to obtain the desired result. This specialknife is mounted on a suitable longitudinally extending arbor or shaftso as to have an angular movement, more particularly, an oscillating orswinging movement, about or in respect to the longitudinal axis of itsshaft. This knife has an initial cutting portion and a final cuttingportion. The initial cutting portion has a starting section closest toits arbor or shaft, which initial section extends progressivelyoutwardly from the arbor or shaft and merges into the final sectionwhich is preferably in the form of a straight cutting edge that isordinarily wider than the strip of bacon severed thereby. This knife isemployed in association with a suitable member for supporting a strip ofbacon and this supporting member preferably, but not necessarily, hasassociated therewith a lower, adjustable, stationary knife section. Thislower knife section extends transversely of the support and issubstantially coextensive in length with the straight cutting edgeportion of the knife and is arranged so that the straight edge of theoscillating knife and the relatively stationary knife are in substantialalignment. The final section of the knife and the adjustable stationaryknife sections are in juxtaposed positions whereby during the finalseverance of the slice, it is subjected to the supporting and cuttingeffect of the lower stationary knife and to the combined downwardcutting and transverse drawing action of the straight portion of theoscillating knife.

The invention, according to another aspect thereof, relates to a slicingmachine particularly designed for cutting slabs or strips of bacon intoslices but it will be understood that the machine has a use for slicingmaterials other than bacon.

The invention, according to another aspect thereof, relates to a slicingmachine in which the material to be sliced is progressively fed in adirection longitudinally of the machine into successive positions forslices to be cut therefrom and which machine employs a cutter thateffects the initial cutting on the top section of the material beingsliced and which effects the final cutting of the material for theentire width thereof.

The invention, according to a further aspect thereof, relates to aslicing machine having means for supporting and progressively feedingthe material to be sliced toward the cutter and in which the cutter ismounted on the longitudinally extending shaft that is driven from themotor in a manner to effect oscillation of the shaft and thereby movethe cutter first through its successive cutting and severing positionsand thereafter return the cutter to its initial position whereby thematerial to be sliced can be fed under the cutter preparatory to thenext movement of the cutter for effecting the cutting and severingoperation.

The invention, according to another aspect thereof, revolves about theplacing of a slicing machine in such a position that the material beingsliced is fed longitudinally of the machine along a downwardly extendingpath toward the cutter of the machine so that as the material is cut itgradually falls by gravity away from the cutter and so that whenreleased by the final cutting operation it can readily fall upon areceiving and feeding mechanism located adjacent the delivery or cuttingend of the slicing machine.

With these and other objects in View, the invention consists in thenovel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafterfully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointedout in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that variouschanges in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction,within the scope of the claims, may be resorted to without departingfrom the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

As illustrating a specific manner in which the invention may berealized, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, forming a partof this specification, and in which drawings:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal view principally showof Figs. 2 and 4, lookingin the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is an end view of'the machine shown in Fig. 1 and it is a viewlooking inthe direction of the arrow 4.

Fig. is a view of the machine looking in the direction of the arrow 5shown in the several views.

Fig. 6 is a view showing the outer contour of the knife and itscomparative size and relation in respect to a piece of bacon indicatedin association therewith and this figure also shows in dotted lines, thesuccessive positions which the knife occupies as it performs the cuttingoperation on the slab of bacon indicated.

Fig. 7 is a detail ofthe ratchet and pawl shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

Referring to the drawings in detail, I represents the bed proper or mainframe of the machine and the direction indicated by the arrow 6 will bereferred to as the forward longitudinal direction of the machine. Inother words, the several slabs of bacon are fed longitudinally to andalong the machine in the direction as indicated by the arrow 6. Rigidsupporting members 2 and 3 extend upwardlyin fact at right angles andtransversely-in respect to the longitudinally extending supporting framemember or bed I. These supports 2 and 3 carry suitable bearings and areprovided for supporting the motor, the main shaft driven therefrom andthe knife supporting and driving shaft, as will hereinafter more fullyappear.

The slicing knife of the machine is designated by 4. It is mountedrigidly on and secured fixedly to a longitudinallyextending shaft 5which is in fact in the apparatusshown an oscillating shaft although itwill be understood that according to certain aspects of the invention itis feasible to have this shaft 5 operate as a revolving shaft instead ofan oscillating shaft. This shaft 5 is rotatively mounted in bearings 6and 7 and these bearings may be provided with adjusting features for thepurpose of adjustably positioning the knife relative to the supportingframe of the machine, if desired, such as for compensating for thedecrease in size of the cutter as it wears incident to continued use. Asone portion of the knife extends from the axis ofrotation a much greaterdistance than other portions, it is advisable to counterbalance theknife as by means of a counterbalancing member 8 secured thereto or tothe shaft upon which the knife is mounted, the purpose of whichcounterbalance is to dynamically balancethe oscillating mechanism as awhole. A crank arm 9 is rigidly fastened to shaft 5 and the free end ofthis arm carries a crank pin it! which is pivotally connected to one endof link H. The other end of the link Ill is pivotally connected to crankpin l2 which is rigidly fastened to rotate with crank 53, which crank I3is mounted on a longitudinally extending main shaft l4 which runs inbearings I 5 and 16. This main shaft Mcarries a. spur gear .I 1

crank l3 approaches a simple, harmonic motion and one'characteristic ofthis motion is that the angular velocity of the moving parts passesthrough zero'at the extreme ends of the cycle. Since the crank arm 9 andthe slicing knife or cutter 4 are mounted on and are rigidly fastened orsecurely fixed to the longitudinally extending shaft 5 whereby the crankarm 9 successively and in turn imparts to the knife or cutter 4 the samereciprocating angular movement or movements that the reciprocating crankarm receives from its actuating mechanism, to-wit, from and through themedium of the actuating mechanism that comprises the continuouslyrotating crank arm 83 and link If that is provided for imparting to) thecrank arm themotion which is herein described as one which approaches asimple harmonic motion, it will be manifest that the knife andparticularly the cutting edge of the knife which has the same angularmotion as the crank 9 may be properly described as having a motion whichapproaches simple harmonic motion. .In other words, the knife or cutter4 may be described as a knife having simple harmonic motion and asfunctioning to effect during the early orfirst portion of .a slicecutting movement a gradually or progressively quickening .cuttingmovement into the fatty section of the bacon slab toward the lower sidethereof followed by a gradually or progressively slowing down ordecreasing of the cutting movement until the final portion of the cutterengages the lower side portion of the slab for the full width thereofand under conditions such that at the extreme end of the cuttingoperation the knife is at the extreme end of its cyclic movement, to-wit in that part of the cyclic movement wherein the cutting part ormoving cutting element passes through zero and has no movement. Becausea certain amount of knife over-travel past the finish of the cuttingoperation is necessary for reliable operation, the knife will have somevelocity, although only a small velocity, at the time each bacon sliceis released from the slab. This velocity is small, especially incomparison with the velocity existing in the case of a rotating kniferunning at the same number of cycles per minute.

The knife which is preferably employed in the invention of thisapplication is clearly shown in Fig. 6, particularly in conjunction withFigs. 1, 4 and 5. In Fig. 6, it will be observed that substantially thefirst 180 degrees section thereof is defined by a semi-circular sectionmarked ab-c which as a matter of fact defines the smaller, outer contourof a body section of the knife blade. In Fig. 6, X indicates the openingfor receiving the shaft or arbor 5. Approximately the next 135degrees'section of the knife bladeto wit, the section defined by c-deand subtended orrmeasured by the angle cOe, provides what is hereintermed as the initial cutting section of the knife.

The smaller part, or starting part, of this initial cutting sectionextends fromc," to wit, gradually from the smaller body section, withprogressively increasing radii from the center of the knife outwardlytoward the end of the 135 degrees section until at e, it merges into arelatively straight, final cutting section which extends substantiallyor approximately at right angles to the radius O-e, which radius extendsfrom the place where the intermediate cutting section and the outercutting section merge. This final cutting section is designated 6-f andextends suflicient- 1y long to cover approximately degrees of the knife,as define-d by the angle e-O-f. From the outer edge of the final cuttingsection, the blade takes a radial path from the extreme outer end 1 backto the smaller body section; namely, to the point a. It will be observedthat in effect the line fe is substantially tangent to the end of theinitial curved portion with which it merges. The initial cutting sectionjust described and also the final cutting section are each provided witha taper as g, whereby the desired continuous cutting edge is realized.This combined cutting section extends from near the point 0 around theouter portion of the knife marked de to the point i.

The initial cutting section which is substantially segmental orsemi-circular is eccentrically arranged with relation to the axis of theknife and the final cutting section is substantially triangular andforms an extension of the outer end of the segmental initial cuttingsection.

An inspection of Fig. 6 will make it clear that a slab of bacon such asindicated by 2D with the lower section B lowermost, is engaged by theknife so as to first have a downward cutting and transverse drawingaction in a side portion of the top of the fatty section of the baconand that this type of cutting action continues until the knife blade isjust about to engage and/or sever the lower section.

It will further be noted that at practically the period when the knifecontacts with the lowerside, it is engaging the lower section for thefull width thereof and that the lower side is subjected to a combinedslow but positive downward cutting and transverse drawing action for thefull width thereof by the final cutting section of the blade. Applicantbelieves he is the first to produce any such cutting action. While thiscutting action is useful in cutting various types of meat products, itis particularly useful in cutting bacon where the rind side or the leanside as the case may be presents a different cutting problem from thatexperienced elsewhere in the slab of bacon.

In the preferred form of the apparatus, this particular knife is usedand there may also be used therewith a companion, transverselyextending, lower member S at the extreme delivery end portion of themachine, which transversely extending member S is preferably verticallyadjustable-it may be relied upon to support the bacon near its outermostpart but slightly inside of the slice being cut-and this member S canalso well be provided so as to constitute a lower shearing and resistingmember which can be relied upon to cooperate with the oscillating shearpreviously described and shown in connection with Fig. 6. When thislower supporting shear section S is employed, it is preferably arrangedso that it is in juxtaposition in respect to the final section of theknife when the knife is in the proper position for completing thesevering of the bacon slice from the rest of theslab; that is, when thefinal section of the knife is in position to complete the cutting of thelower side of the slice that is being cut from the slab.

As previously indicated, it will be noted that in and during the normaloperating of the apparatus, the final straight portion or final cuttingsection of the cutter or knife overtravels past the finish of thecutting operation, that is to say, past the lower supporting or lowershear member 5, with the result that there is effected and insured apositive and clean cut severance of the final lower portion of the restof the slab.

The supporting member S, which may function as a shear member ifdesired, is at least coextensive in length with the straight, finalcutting face of the knife. In other words, it preferably extendstransversely of the machine a length transversely equal to the finalsection of the knife; to wit, equal to fe.

From what has preceded, it will be noted that the kinematic arrangementsof the elements provide a combination of drawing action and choppingaction and that by choosing the proper location of the knife axis 0,with reference to the position of the bacon slab; that is, in referenceto the support on which the slab is carried when being sliced, the ratioof drawing action to the chopping action can be set at any desiredamount.

In Fig. 1, 20 represents the bacon slab in position for slicing. It issupported on fluted feed rollers 2| which are rotated in a direction tofeed the bacon slab toward the slicing knife at the proper rate ofspeed. These rollers may be continuously rotated or they may beintermittently rotated as is provided for in the construction shown.These feed rollers 2| are driven by along worm shaft 22, the teeth ofwhich mesh with the threads 23 cut on worm gears which are on the shafts21a of the rollers 2|. The worm shaft 22 may be driven by a chain or anyother convenient means from the main shaft I4. In the constructionshown, however, there is indicated an eccentric 32 secured to the mainshaft, 14, and which eccentric is engaged by the eccentric strap member33 so as to vertically reciprocate the con necting rod 34 andtherethrough the free end 35 of pivoted feed lever member 36.

The pivoted end 31 of the member 36 preferably carries pawl and ratchetmechanism, such as provided by pawl 31 and ratchet wheel 38, the formerof which is located on the lever, and the latter of which is located onthe shaft 22 so as to eifect an intermittent driving of the shaft andthe desired feed of the rollers. The connecting rod 34 may be providedwith adjusting nuts thereupon whereby there may be realized a lostmotion connection between the connecting rod 34 on the one hand and thefree end 35 of the pivoted member 36 on the other hand, with the resultthat an adjustable and controllable feed can be imparted to the feedrollers in respect to the continuously moving main shaft l4 and therebyindirectly in respect to the cycle movements of the knife.

The machine has been designed primarily for operation with the bedinclined at a substantial angle but it will be noted that according tothe broader aspects of the invention it is not limited to a machine inwhich the bed is so inclined. However, there is a decided advantage ininclining the machine in the manner shown and described as has beenproven from the actual operation of machines of this character.

In the machine as shown, each bacon slab 20 is successively pressedagainst the fiuted feed rollers 2| by the action of loaded or springpressed rollers 24. The pressing rollers 24 are supported at each end orin other words, are held in position by suitable bearing blocks 25,which blocks are in turn supported or held in position by rods-26passing upwardly through lower and upper longitudinally extending framemembers 21v and 28 which are in turn secured to and held in place by therigid upright supports, as 2 and 3. Collars 29 are rigidly secured tothe rods 26 and are arranged to transmit downward pressure of springs 30to the pressing rollers 24.

The cutting end of the machine is herein referred to as the forward endof the machine. The end where the bacon first enters the machine isherein referred to as the rear end of the machine. The rollers 3|provide a guiding-in set of rollers which are located behind the springpressed feed rollers 24. The guiding-in feed rollers 3| are held in afixed position on and in respect to the machine and are not springloaded. The guiding-in rollers are also located above and in cooperativerelationship with respect to some of the fluted feed rollers 2 l. Thepurpose of the guiding-in rollers is, as the name implies, to guide andgradually force the incoming strips of bacon into positive engagementwith the lower fluted feed rollers 2| and having served this purpose,then the best results are obtained by also providing the upper set ofspring pressed rollers 24, previously described.

When the machine is set in an inclined position, a bacon slab deliveredinto the machine, along the path indicated by the arrow, will be carriedby gravity under the guiding-in rollers 3| until it is firmly wedgedbetween the fluted feed members 2| and the pressing rollers 24 by meansof the latter of which it will be carried continuously and uniformlyinto the slicing knife or in other words in position to be operated uponby the slicing knife. With this arrangement, the extreme ends of thebacon slab will be carried under the knife by the action of the rollers2| and 24 and the pressure of the adjacent bacon slab.

In this arrangement, it will also be observed that as the knife startsto sever the slice of bacon from the slab, the bacon can lean over andtend to drop under the influence of gravity and that it is in positionto drop practically along a defined path onto the receiving andconveying mechanism indicated by M below the cutting-off or delivery endof the machine so .that the slices of. bacon can collect in batches asshown in Figure 1.

What is claimed is:

1. A bacon slicing machine of the class described, comprising a framehaving a longitudinally extending bed, fiuted feed rollers mountedthereupon extending transversely of the bed and provided with means fordriving the fluted feed rollers in a direction to move forwardly slabsof bacon when supported thereupon, spring pressed rollers for forcingthe slabs of bacon toward the feed rollers, a motor carried by theframe, a main operating shaft driven from the motor so as to becontinuously rotated thereby, which main operating shaft is carried bybearings suitably mounted on the frame, a longitudinally extendingcutter shaft, means for imparting oscillating movements from the drivingshaft to the cutter shaft, a cutter fixedly secured to the said cuttingshaft, said cutter having a gradually increasing initial cutting sectionfor initially engaging the bacon in the top section thereof whensupported on the body with the supported section down and a finalcutting section for ultimately passing through the main body of thebacon and lastly completely through and slightly past the supportedsection thereof, which final cutting section has a straight cutting edgearranged for simultaneously severing the supported section for the fullwidth thereof.

2. A bacon slicing machine of the class described, comprising a framehaving a longitudinally extending bed, fiutted feed rollers mounted uponthe bed and extending transversely thereof and provided with means fordriving them in a direction to move forwardly the slabs of baconsupported thereupon, spring pressed pressing rollers for forcing theslabs 'of bacon toward the feed rollers, a, motor carried by the frame,a main operating shaft driven from the motor, which main operating shaftis carried by bearings suitably mounted on the frame, a longitudinallyextending cutter shaft, means for imparting oscillating movement to thecutting shaft from the driving shaft, a cutter fixedly secured to thesaid cutting shaft, said cutter having a gradually increasing formationfor initially engaging the bacon in the top section thereof whensupported on the bed arranged to initially pass through the main body ofthe bacon and lastly through and slightly past the supported section ofthe bacon, which cutter has a final, straight cutting edge arranged sothat it provides a portion which simultaneously severs the supportedsection for the full width thereof, and which final straight cuttingedge is positioned and arranged so that it overtravels slightly past theposition at which the severing operation is completed.

3. A bacon slicing machine of the class described, comprising alongitudinally extending bed, fluted feed rollers mounted thereuponextending transversely of the bed and provided with means for drivingthe fluted feed rollers in a direction to forwardly move slabs of baconsupported thereupon, spring pressed pressing rollers for forcing theslabs of bacon toward the feed rollers, a set of transversely extendingguiding-in rollers arranged in the rear of the pressing rollers for thepurpose of directing the forwardly moving slabs of bacon into positionto be pressed by the spring pressed rollers into feeding engagement withthe fluted feed rollers, a motor carried by the frame of the machine, acontinuously turning main operating shaft driven from the motor, whichmain operating shaft is carried by bearings suitably mounted on theframe of the machine, a longitudinally extending cutter shaft, means forimparting angular oscillating movement to the cutter shaft from thedriving shaft, a cutter fixedly secured to the said oscillating cuttershaft, and means driven by said main operating shaft for actuating themeans for driving the fluted feed rollers.

4. An angularly movable transversely operating knife for use in aslicing machine having a suitable supporting table which is relativelystraight in a transverse direction in the region in which the knifeoperates, a traveling receiving element arranged to receive meat slicesfrom said knife, said knife having a small body portion forapproximately 180 degrees and through which body portion there extendsthe longitudinally extending axis about which the knife has angularmovement, an initial cutting portion having a gradually increasingradius for the next 135 degrees and a final cutting section which isstraight for the remaining 45 degrees and which relatively straightcutting section extends at a tangent from the initial cutting portion,thereby enabling each slice to be deposited on the aforesaid receivingelement while theivelocity of the knife is at substantially zero in itscutting stroke in order better to control the distribution of theindividual slices on the receiving element.

5. In a meat slicing machine, a frame, a knife, a shaft journalled inthe frame and to which the knife is operatively connected, means forslidably supporting a meat slab on the frame for movement toward theknife including transversely disposed rollers, spring actuated presserrollers for yieldably forcing the meat slab on the rollers of saidsupporting means, a set of guide rollers flared away from the feedingrollers to cooperate with the latter to direct the slab of meat betweenthe feeding rollers and the presser rollers, a drive shaft journalled inthe frame in parallelism with the knife shaft, a motor on the frame,driving means between the motor shaft and the drive shaft tocontinuously rotate the drive shaft, connections between the knife shaftand the drive shaft to periodically oscillate said knife shaft, andmeans for intermittently rotating the aforesaid rollers to feed thematerial to the knife between oscillating movements of the latter forpositioning the meat with relation to the knife for slicing purposes.

6. Means for supporting a slab of meat to be fed to a slicing mechanism,including a bed of alining side by side rollers, a worm gear on the axisof each roller, a worm shaft meshing with the worm gears of the rollers,means for rotating the worm shaft, means for effecting intermittentrotation of the Worm shaft to intermittently rotate the rollers tointermittently feed the slab of material to the slicing mechanism, andmeans including rollers for exerting a yieldable pressure upon the slabto force the latter yieldably into feeding contact with said rollers.

7. In a meat slicing machine, means for feeding a slab of meat to acutting means comprising a supporting means including side by side feedrollers to feed the slab to the cutting means, means for intermittentlyrotating said rollers in unison including a worm gear mechanism and apawl and ratchet mechanism, pressure means above the slab of meat toforce the meat into intimate feeding contact with said rollers, and aset of guiding rollers flared away from the feeding rollers to cooperatewith the latter to direct the slab of meat between the feeding rollersand the presser means.

8. In a meat slicing machine, a conveyor, an inclined frame having itslower end arranged at an acute angle to the conveyor and close thereto,a knife operating in parallelism with the lower end of the frame, aninclined feeding means including rollers on the frame to feed a meatslab to the knife, means for operating the knife to periodically cutslices from the slab, and means to rotate said feed rollersintermittently in unison to feed the meat slab to cutting positionduring inactive cutting periods of the knife, the meat slices falling bygravity from the portion of the inclined frame nearest to the conveyorinto overlapping relation on the conveyor.

9. In a slicing machine including a feed table and means forprogressively moving slabs of meat in a forwardly direction on saidtable, a pivotally mounted knife and means for successively impartingoscillating movements to said knife in a cutting and shearingrelationship with meat slabs fed to the forward end of said table, saidknife having an initial substantially circular cutting edge, the centerof which is offset from said knife pivot to provide gradually increasingradii in relation to said knife pivot, said circular portion terminatingin a substantially straight portion of a length greater than the widthof the meat slabs being cut, the position of said knife pivot being suchthat said straight portion at the completion I of each downwardoscillating movement will rest in a plane below the feeding level ofsaid table.

10. In a slicing machine including a feed table and means forprogressively moving slabs of meat in a forwardly direction on saidtable, a pivotally mounted knife and means for successively impartingoscillating movements to said knife'in a cutting and shearingrelationship with meat slabs fed to the forward end of said table, saidknife having an initial substantially circular cutting edge, the centerof which is offset from said knife pivot to provide gradually increasingradii in relation to said knife pivot, said circular portion terminatingin a substantially straight portion of a length greater than the widthof the meat slabs being cut, the position of said knife pivot being suchthat said straight portion at the completion of each downwardoscillating movement will rest in a plane below the feeding level ofsaid table, said circular portion providing a progressively quickeningcutting movement during the early stages of the cutting operationfollowed by said straight portion providing a progressively decreasingcutting movement so that only a slow cutting movement exists approachingthe end of the cutting operation.

11. In a slicing machine including a feed table and. means forprogressively moving slabs of meat in a forwardly direction on saidtable, a pivotally mounted knife and means for successively impartingoscillating movements to said knife in a cutting and shearingrelationship with meat slabs fed to the forward end of said table, saidknife having an initial substantially circular cutting edge, the centerof which is offset from said knife pivot to provide gradually increasingradii in relation to said knife pivot, said circular portion terminatingin a substantially straight portion of a length greater than the widthof the meat slabs being cut, the position of said knife pivot being suchthat said straight portion at the completion of each downwardoscillating movement will rest in a plane below the feeding level ofsaid table, said circular portion providing a progressively quickeningcutting movement during the early stages of the cutting operationfollowed by said straight portion providing a progressively decreasingcutting movement so that only a slow cutting movement exists approachingthe end of the cutting operation, said straight portion as it approachesthe lower edge of the slab being cut providing a transverse drawing andshearing action for completely severing the slice being cut.

12. In a meat slicing machine, a pivotally mounted knife and means forsuccessively imparting oscillating movements to said knife, said knifehaving an initial substantially circular cutting edge, the center ofwhich is offset from said knife pivot to provide gradually increasingradii in relation to said knife pivot, said circular portion terminatingin a substantially straight portion of a length greater than the productto be sliced by said knife, said straight portion being substantially atright angle to the radius at the terminus of the circular portion, saidcircular portion of said cutting edge upon engagement with the productto be sliced providing a progressively quickening cutting movementduring the early stages of the cutting operation followed by saidstraight portion providing a progressively decreasing cutting movementso that only a slow cutting movement exists approaching the end of thecutting operation.

13. In a meat slicing machine, a pivotally mounted knife and means forsuccessively imparting oscillating movements to said knife, said knifehaving an initial substantially circular cutting edge, the center ofwhich is offset from said knife pivot to provide gradually increasingradii in relation to said knife pivot, said circular portion terminatingin a substantially straight por- .tion of a length greater than theproduct'to be sliced by said knife, said straight portion beingsubstantially at right angle to the radius at the terminus of thecircular portion, said circular portion of said cutting edge uponengagement with the product to be sliced providing a progressivelyquickening cutting movement during the early stages of the cuttingoperation followed by said straight portion providing a progressivelydecreasing cutting movement so that only a slow cutting movement existsapproaching the end of the cutting operation, said straight portion asit approaches the lower edge of the product being sliced providing atransverse shearing action for completely severing the slice being out.7 CHARLES T. WALTER.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2,056,001. March 31 1936.

CHARLES T. WALTER.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specificationof the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 4,second column, line 18, claim 2, after "shaft" insert rotatably; andthat the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction thereinthat the same may conform to the record of the case in the PatentOffice.

Signed and sealed this 28th day April, A. D. 1936.

Leslie Frazer (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents.

